Tags

Halcyon Floats Puts Your Mind at Ease

If you haven't heard of floating, now is the time to check it out. Halcyon Floats is Philadelphia's favorite float center: a place where you can submerge yourself in this relaxing form of therapy.

Founded in 2014, the Halcyon Floats concept actually began much earlier. Keri Rakickas, owner, visited a friend in Portland, Oregon back in 2011. During her stay, her friend introduced her to floatation therapy as a way to combat her insomnia issues. Immediately, Rakickas was hooked and began a battle to bring floating to her hometown.

"I found it was the most effective way to reset my sleep patterns, without any side effects, like what I was experiencing with prescribed sleeping meds," said Rakickas. "I had to travel out of town to float as there was no float center in Philly at the time, and that just wasn't convenient."

Rakickas realized quickly that she wasn't going to be able to keep a float tank at her home and she couldn't continue to drive out of town for her treatments. She made a decision then and there to open her own shop.

"I now have two locations: Northern Liberties location has been open for 4 years in March, and we just had our 2-year anniversary at our Roxborough location in November," she said.

Halcyon Floats is not a spa or medical facility; however, it does omit a warm, welcoming feeling to its clients. The float rooms are spacious, with their own private space for the experience which includes a private shower, changing area, and float pool.

The float rooms are equipped with client controlled music and lighting, allowing clients to choose their own pace to ease into the sensory deprivation experience. The float pools have 10 inches of skin sensor neutral solution. Clients lose physical sensation of their body thanks to the 1200 lbs. of Epsom salt and water.

"The extreme salt density creates the buoyant environment, and also maintains an extremely anti-microbial environment," Rakickas said. "Sessions are 90 minutes, as ongoing studies have shown this to be the ideal amount of time to float to really get all the effects of the float."